Alcohol drinkers sentenced to death

The Khorasan justice department has confirmed the death penalty for two individuals who were caught drinking alcohol for the third time.

ISNA reports that Hojjatoleslam Hassan Shariati, the head of the Khorasan justice department, told a press conference: “The execution sentence for the two people who had been caught using alcoholic beverages has been confirmed and is now in process.”

He added: “We will not show mercy in alcoholic beverage offences and we will sentence the offenders to the harshest letter of the law.”

In 2007, in an unprecedented move, the Tehran criminal court sentenced an alcoholic to death. He had been caught offending for the fourth time; however, he was later acquitted.

The judge in Tehran had stipulated that according to the Islamic penal code, if an individual is flogged twice for alcohol offences, the third offence could receive the death penalty.

Unofficial reports indicate that consumption of alcoholic beverages is on the rise in Iran.

Shargh Newspaper recently reported that according to traffic police, 26 percent of drivers stopped by police test positive for drug and alcohol use.